Snowpocalypse ‘11

**Please continue to pray for Sarah! You can check for updates on her family blog or on Angela’s blog.**

Warning: This is an epic post. Epic. Really, you might want to get a snack.

The snow came. And came. And came some more. Thankfully, we kept our power. Most of the time.

Tuesday morning, we woke up to this.

There was a thin layer of ice (maybe a quarter to half inch?) covered by a bit of snow and sleet. It continued sleeting a while.

Husband worked from home, something the little guys in our household aren’t quite used to. Oz was a little distraught at being locked out of the office while Husband worked. He sat there all morning.

Meanwhile, Caedmon enjoyed a cherry Pop Tart for breakfast. Does anyone else’s kid eat Pop Tarts like this?

Finally by about 10am, the snow was coming hard and heavy and continued most of the day. Look at the size of these flakes!

Finally in the afternoon, the guys ventured outside to shovel and sled a bit.

Yes, the UPS guy delivered a package while we were outside. I have no idea if Newman came, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

Caedmon loved the deep snow.

And he managed to figure out how to “work” the sled.

(Yes, the photos would’ve been better if I’d gone to the bottom of the hill. But I was a pansy.)

He made it up the hill and tried a few more times before coming in.

Wednesday we woke up to a bit more snow, but Husband was able to make it to work.

Caedmon and I did all sorts of things (besides our regular chores, etc.) to stay busy.

He desperately wanted to play in the snow, but with single-digit temperatures and negative wind chills, there was no way we were going out. So, I brought the snow to him.

Of course he ended up eating some of it.

And at one point the feet were even involved.

What better to do after playing in the snow than a nice warm bath?

He played in the tub for a good hour, which gave me time to thoroughly clean the bathroom. Not that I really wanted to, but I needed something to do. And I do like having a clean bathroom, though the process of getting it there is not fun.

After Husband came home, the guys went out to sled. I actually went down the hill this time to snap some photos.

After dinner, I got creative with our snow cream and made Banana Splits for the guys.

Around 12:30 Thursday morning, our power went out. Thanks to technology, I was able to find out there’d been a transformer fire and the power company was already working on getting our electricity restored. But I knew it would take a while.

I got up and took care of a few things around the house and turned the fireplace on. We have a little set of gas logs that isn’t fully capable of heating the house, but it helps out when there’s no heat and record-breaking cold temperatures below zero. Thankfully we had nothing to do but sleep and stay warm!

Caedmon woke up and conveniently decided it was a night he was going to be afraid of the dark. He was quite distraught at the lack of electricity. Once I was able to tell him why our power was out, he was much more calm. So once I got him settled with his Buzz Lightyear taplight, he was content to go back to sleep. But Baby Sister wasn’t. Every time I’d lay down, she’d have a party. I guess she’s enjoying her new-found real estate since she’s not wadded up in a ball anymore. I finally went back to sleep around 2:30am.

It was getting chilly in the house when the power came back on around 5:20am. I’m so thankful for the people who were out working in sub-zero temperatures to get it back on for us. When Caedmon woke up a little after 7 (it’s a miracle that he slept that long), he was super excited our electricity was back on. And since Husband had slept through the entire ordeal, Caedmon told him the whole story about the transformer fire and the firemen putting out the fire and the electric company fixing the lines…over and over again.

We spent the day lounging, playing and cleaning. I kept up the laundry and was driven to cleaning up the laundry room and cleaned the kitchen top to bottom. All things I knew I needed to do but didn’t want to. And since I’d run out of excuses by day 3 of being cooped up in the house, I had to get some things done.

Caedmon pulled out his baby doll and despite not having her bottle, managed to take pretty good care of her.

Oz continued his periodic hibernation. He’s in there, I promise.

And Caedmon and I ventured outside for a while. I shoveled half the driveway – the easy half. The fluffy snow was easy to push off to the side, but I left the packed stuff for Husband. With the sunshine and no wind, 22 degrees felt positively balmy. Caedmon sure thought so. He refused to get his snow clothes on and wore his pajamas, snow boots, mittens, and hat out to sled. He wasn’t out very long. And then a quick bath to warm up.

After Husband came home from work, we bundled up and headed out. OUT! I really didn’t care where we went. But we ended up at Burger Life and made a quick trip to Hobby Lobby. The roads were basically solid packed snow, ice and slush. Nasty. And not something we’ll be venturing out on much.

I might be blogging from an institution of some sort by the end of next week if we get all the snow we’re expected to get today, Sunday, and next week.

I told you it was an epic post. It was an epic week. We’re going to have to figure out some more activities we can do without leaving the house. If you have any ideas, I’d love to hear them!